


A light |After all this dark|

by and_crowley_lives1



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Gilan and Will are brothers, Skandia, Uhm, nothing too serious, skandia is only briefly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/and_crowley_lives1/pseuds/and_crowley_lives1
Summary: Gilan and will brotherly bonding
Relationships: Gilan & Will Treaty, Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	A light |After all this dark|

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zunnietheweirdo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zunnietheweirdo/gifts).



Gilan smiled as Will laughed, the sound had always made him happy. Will was a small boy in the ward, unlike most kids. He didn’t know Gilan was a ranger because if he did he would be scared. Every other kid in the ward warned him to stay away from Gilan. Gilan visited the ward frequently, and Will was always excited to meet him by the fig tree.

Gilan started to climb up the tree after Will. His body seemed to glide up the tree, barely stopping. Will could’ve kept climbing until he reached the top if it weren’t for him blocking himself in a corner, or well, branch. Gilan quickly tagged Will, and then practically jumped down the rest of the tree. He managed to roll to soften his landing and then he ran away from Will, who was trying to catch Gilan. 

Will quickly shadowed behind Gilan, catching up. Gilan was, of course, going slowly for a Ranger. Will was only a little kid. Once, Gilan looked behind him. Will was no trained ranger, but he was very good with unseen movement. Gilan saw him, though, and sped up. Will also sped up, easily keeping time with Gilan. That’s when Gilan pulled his trick. He ran suddenly to the side, although Will kept moving forward. Will eventually ran into the castle wall, narrowly avoiding hitting his face by putting his hands in front of him. 

“Gil!”

Gilan merely laughed, then checked Will’s wrists to make sure there were no breaks or bruisings. Fortunately, he found none. “You’re okay, Will. No breaks, there isn’t even any bruising. You merely hurt your hand.”

“It still hurt!” Will whined.

“Oh, stop your whining,” Gilan said, a smile playing on his features. He enjoyed teasing Will.

Will crossed his arms and put on a pout face. Gilan and Will were like brothers. They were inseparable, and they both liked it that way. 

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
WILL’S APPRENTICESHIP, FIRST GATHERING

Will let his shot fly, frozen in time as he saw Halt’s previous apprentice’s face. It was   
Gilan. Will had thought that the other apprentice would’ve been a separate Gilan. There was no way. 

In his turn, Gilan was shocked. “Will?” He called.

“Gilan!” Will yelled, practically jumping out of the tree.

Halt was confused. Sure, Gilan visited Redmont from time to time, but he had never been in a ranger uniform when he left. His oakleaf had always been tucked away in his shirt. “How do you two know each other?” He said under his breath.

They ran into each other, hugging. “It’s been a while, Gilan,” Will said into Gilan’s cloaked shoulder.

“It has. I think the last time was when you were what, twelve?” Gilan asked.

“No, I was eleven. Almost twelve, though. We were playing tag outside, and I nearly broke my wrist because of that trick you pulled, and you thought it was funny. I’m going to get back at you for that, but for now, I have a question. What happened to your visits?”

“I graduated from my apprenticeship,” Gilan said.

“Oh, well, congratulations. Why did you never tell me you were a ranger?”

“Because I knew it’d only hurt you more if you knew I was a ranger, Will,”

Finally, Halt broke into their muffled conversation. “You know each other again?”

“Halt, we’re having a moment right now,” Gilan said, preventing Will from answering. He knew Halt wouldn’t approve of how they met. He had been in the kitchen, trying to steal cooling pies when a small boy stole them from the sill. He followed him and asked him to share the pies. Little did either of them know, Halt was in that kitchen too.

“I asked a question,” Halt said.

“You want an answer? Fine. We were sharing some pies. That’s how we met. He had pies and I asked for some,” Gilan said, hinting to Will to not say anything.

Halt wondered if they were the same pies he saw Will steal, then pushed the thought away. It was too coincidental, and Will was only eight at the time. “We’d best get moving before we’re late,” He said, breaking the awkward silence.

“We wouldn’t want that,” Will said, a smile on his face as he rode close to Gilan. It was at this moment that he knew everything would turn out okay.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
SKANDIA, AFTER WILL’S RECOVERY, BEFORE REUNITING

Halt would be disappointed, Will thought. He knew it would disappoint him. The meager food he was eating suddenly tasted blander than before. Gilan would be even more so. Gilan and him had been close, especially after his adventure to Celtica. He wondered what would become of him, and that thought started to make him even more worried.

“Will, eat your food. We can’t have you losing any more weight,” Evanlyn said softly.

“The whole Ranger Corps is going to be disappointed in me, Evanlyn.”

“Will you stop worrying about that? I’m sure they wouldn’t.” Evanlyn didn’t state that she didn’t think any other Ranger would be able to come out of the hole Will had been in.

Will took a deep breath and finished his food, then went into his room. He needed to be alone.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
AFTER SKANDIA, WELCOMING BACK

“Will,” Gilan said, his voice slightly wavering, “why would you ever think I’d be disappointed in you for something you couldn’t control?”

“I-” Will took a deep breath. “...I don’t know.”

“Is it okay if I give you a hug, Will?” Gilan said, sensing Will would say no.

“...If you feel like it,” Will said, surprising Gilan. He knew Gilan would never hurt him.

Gilan pulled him into a nice, soft embrace, comforting Will. He knew that sometimes, things would get hard, but he also knew he’d be there through it all. “I promise you, Will, that I will never leave you like that again. I promise I’ll never leave you permanently. I’ll always come back, okay?” Gilan said through tears.

“‘Mkay,” Will said, also in tears. His weren’t like Gilan’s, though. His tears were because he was happy. He knew things would all turn out okay. Gilan’s promise was like a light after all the darkness he had just gone through.


End file.
